Here’s What to do if Your Oven Isn’t Working

Sometimes, you can fix a problem yourself by performing some basic troubleshooting steps described in the oven owner’s manual. Resetting a tripped house circuit breaker can sometimes restore power to your oven when it won’t power up at all. Rebooting the electronic control board by shutting off the oven’s circuit breaker for 3 minutes then restoring power can sometimes fix unresponsive controls.

When basic troubleshooting doesn’t fix the oven problem you’re facing, then you’ll need to schedule repair service to have a technician diagnose and fix the oven.

Sometimes, you may need to buy a new oven rather than fixing your old one. When your oven is older than 10 years and you're facing a costly repair, consider replacing the oven instead of repairing it.

Read on to see the most common component failures that plague ovens.

Top Repairs Common to Gas and Electric Ovens

Replace the Thermal Fuse

For safety, all electric ovens have at least one thermal fuse that trips when the oven overheats or when it draws too much electric current because of an electrical short. A blown thermal fuse may result in your oven not powering up at all or just not heating. In addition to replacing the blown thermal fuse, a technician will need to examine the oven and determine why the fuse tripped.

Repair or Replace the Oven Temperature Sensor

Because most ovens use electronic controls, the circuit board detects oven temperature using a sensor probe located inside the oven cavity. The electrical resistance of the sensor probe changes with temperature so the electronic control board monitors sensor resistance to determine oven temperature. The oven temperature sensor probe can wear out or break without warning. You may see an error code when the sensor isn’t detecting temperature properly or the thermal fuse may blow because the oven gets too hot. A service technician will need to repair or replace the oven temperature sensor when it isn’t detecting oven temperature properly.

Replace the Electronic Oven Control Board

One of the top causes of an electronic oven control board failure is power surge damage. An electrical power surge is often caused by a close lightning strike during an electric storm. Power surges can also be caused by power outages, electrical grid overloads, utility service provider load shifting and wind storms. Learn how to protect the electronic control board in your oven from power surges by reading our How Do I Protect My Appliances from Power Surges? article. When a power surge knocks out the circuit board in your oven, have a service technician replace the control board.

Other problems can cause the electronic control board to fail. Normal wear and tear eventually takes it toll on a circuit board and causes its failure. A short circuit in a component such as a heating element, fan, control panel or sensor can damage the electronic control board. A service tech can often determine the cause of a control board failure and replace additional parts if necessary to prevent the control board from going out shortly after replacing it.

Install a New Control Panel

Control panels wear out over time. Labels eventually rub off and control buttons stop working after years of use. Internal contacts and display components can fail at any time. When your oven control panel wears out or stops working, have a service technician install a new control panel.

Replace the Cooling Fan

The cooling fan blows air across the electronic control board and control panel to keep them from overheating during oven use. You may see an error code appear on the oven display when the cooling fan stops working. A failed cooling fan can also cause a thermal fuse to trip in the oven controls. You may hear the cooling fan making noise when it’s about to failure. Have a service technician replace the cooling fan if it makes noise or it stops working.

What Are the Most Common Electric Oven Repairs?

Install a New Bake Element

Bake elements can fail for a variety of reasons including normal wear, damage from spills, faulty wiring or a control failure that causes overheating. The bake mode won’t work when the bake element breaks but the broil mode may still work. When the bake element isn’t working, you may see a crack or break in the element. Have a service technician replace a broken bake element. The technician will be able to examine wiring and other components such as the electronic oven control board or fuses that may have been damaged when the bake element failed.

Replace the Broil Element

The broil element in the top of the oven cavity can wear out or break at any time. Splatters from items being broiled can sometimes hasten broil element failure. A wiring or control problem can also cause the broil element to break. When the broil element won’t heat, have a service technician replace it.

Repair or Replace the Convection Fan

The convection fan circulates air through the oven cavity in ovens with the convection baking feature. The fan motor can wear out or fail. A wiring failure can also prevent the convection fan from working. When the convection fan doesn’t spin the in the convection baking mode, have a service technician diagnose the failure and replace the convection fan if necessary.

What Are the Most Common Gas Oven Repairs?

Bake Burner Igniter Replacement

The bake burner igniter glows white hot to ignite the gas bake burner in the bake mode. The igniter continues to glow while the bake burner heats the oven. The igniter turns off when the bake burner cycles off to maintain the set temperature in the oven. The igniter turns back on to ignite the bake burner when the control cycles the heat back on in the oven. When the bake igniter doesn’t glow, or when it glows but doesn’t get hot enough to ignite the bake burner, have a technician replace the bake burner igniter.

Broil Burner Igniter Replacement

The broil burner igniter works the same way as the bake burner igniter described above. When the broil igniter fails to igniter the broil burner, have a service tech replace the broil burner igniter.

Replace the Pressure Regulator

The pressure regulator controls gas pressure going to the bake and broil burners. When the pressure regulator fails, the oven typically won’t heat in the bake or broil mode. A technician will need to replace the pressure regulator when it fails.

Troubleshooting Your Oven Issues

When your oven won’t heat, you’ll want to fix it quickly. Troubleshooting your oven issues on your own is often possible with the right DIY repair help.

We have the safe DIY help that you need to get your oven going again.

Electric Oven Won’t Heat

An inadequate power supply, a break in wires, a bad bake element or faulty electronic control board all could prevent your oven from heating. Watch this DIY video to see how to troubleshoot the problem.

If you’re unable to diagnose and repair the oven on your own, have a Sears Technician visit your home and fix your oven.

Gas Oven Won’t Heat

The first thing you’ll want to do when your gas oven won’t heat is to check the gas supply. If the oven is part of a range or stove with gas surface burners, check to see if the surface burner work.

If your surface burners are working, then you know your oven should be getting gas as well. If the burners aren’t working, check your gas supply cut-off valve to make sure that it's open. If it is open and you’re not getting gas, then you need to contact your gas supplier to figure out what’s wrong.

If you’re troubleshooting your wall oven, check other gas appliances to see whether they have gas. If they do, check the gas supply cut-off valve for your wall oven to make sure that it’s open.

When these troubleshooting tips don’t help you fix the oven, you can view this DIY troubleshooting video to get more advice on fixing your gas oven.

To help avoid problems, perform oven maintenance as described in your owner’s manual. You can also have a Sears Technician professionally clean & maintain your oven yearly to keep it in top shape.

Let the Experts at Sears Home Services Fix Your Oven

When you’re unable to fix the oven on your own, schedule a Sears Technician to visit your home and repair the problem.

Sears Home Services is your best, most-trusted option for oven repairs. With over 2,500+ appliance technicians across the US, Sears has local repair techs near you who are highly skilled and trained to fix your wall oven.

Sears technicians are factory trained to repair all major brands of ovens including Whirlpool, Frigidaire, GE and Kenmore.

Sears technicians completed over 300,000 cooking appliance repairs in the past year, and all Sears repairs are guaranteed.

You can trust our repair experts to take care of your oven so you can enjoy your kitchen.